Félix Delahaye
Encyclopedia
Félix Delahaye Félix's surname is variously presented as de Lahaie, Delahaie, de Lahaye, de La Haye, and Lahaie. (1767–1829) was a French gardener who served on the Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
voyage (1791–93) that was sent by the French National Assembly
to search for the missing explorer Jean-François La Perouse
.
Delahaye was one of many gardener-botanists employed on European colonial voyages of scientific exploration
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Their duty was to assist with the collection, transport, cultivation and distribution of economic plants. They worked with the naturalist
s on these expeditions, but gave particular assistance to the botanists by collecting live plants and seed, as well as plant specimens for herbarium
collections. They often maintained journals and records of their collections and made observations on the vegetation encountered during the voyage. On this particular expedition, Delahaye assisted the naturalist and botanist Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière—who accumulated one of the largest herbarium collections of that era and published what was, in effect, the first Flora
of Australia based on the collections he made on the New Holland
(Australian) leg of the expedition. Delahaye also made numerous botanical collections of his own.
On returning to France Delahaye eventually became Head Gardener to Empress Josephine at the Château de Malmaison
.
Félix Delahaye was the son of Normandy labourer Abraham Delahaye and his wife Marie-Anne-Élisabeth Sapeigne who lived in the village of Caumont (Seine-Maritime) about 20 kilometres from Le Havre. At the age of 17 he left his parents’ farm and was employed as an apprentice gardener at the botanical garden of the Academie des Sciences in Rouen, historic capital of Normandy, under the direction of a Monsieur Varin. Just before the French Revolution
in 1788, at the age of 20, he commenced work with André Thouin
at the Jardin du Roi in Paris as a junior gardener, rising through the ranks to become Director of Horticulture at the city's new school of horticulture (Ecole Nationale d’Horticulture). His mentor, Thouin, was professor of horticulture in the Botany School of the Jardin du Roi. After the French Revolution this garden assumed its present name, the Jardin des Plantes
. Thouin was also treasurer to the prestigious Société d’Histoire Naturelle and is commemorated by the name Thoin Bay in Tasmania.
, Australia. It had been observed by ships of the First Fleet
of convicts from England under the command of Arthur Phillip
who was just leaving for Port Jackson
after deciding that Botany Bay was unsuitable for settlement. In 1791 France’s National Assembly decided to send out a search mission led by Bruni d’Entrecasteaux. With Thouin’s recommendation Delahaye, who was at this time principal assistant gardener at the botany school of the Jardin du Roi, was invited to join the expedition's team of "savants" (more than ten scientists, engineers and artists) as the expedition's gardener. Thouin described Delahaye as “ ... strong, vigorous and well-suited for voyages. Gentle, honest and of an exact probity. Active, hard-working and passionately loving his calling. Knowing by theory and by practice the processes of gardening and knowing very well the plants cultivated in the Jardin du Roi.” Delahaye's annual salary on the expedition, paid by the navy, was 1000 livres (24 livres were equivalent to the gold coin, the Louis d'or
), and he was reimbursed 1,236 livres for equipment. As a lowly gardener he was not permitted accommodation with the savants or to dine with the officers. Throughout the expedition he worked with diligence and honesty, keeping meticulous horticultural notes in his journal. Thouin wanted Delahaye to improve his schooling on the expedition and recommended that Delahaye study Latin, try to translate the works of Linnaeus and to read and write in French. His reading included Pierre Bulliard
’s Dictionairre Elementaire de Botanique (1783) and the works of Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau
(1700–1782) who published works on forestry, naval architecture (especially relating to timber), agriculture, fruit tree cultivation, seed conservation and insect pests affecting seeds. Delahaye arrived in Brest, ready for the ship's departure, with four cases of garden seeds, one of fruit tree nuts, one containing gardening tools and another gardener’s clothing.
s, Recherche
and Espérance
. The first landfall was the Canary Islands
, then the Cape of Good Hope
followed by Van Diemen’s Land (in Recherche Bay
, Tasmania, named by d'Entrecasteaux after the flagship of his expedition ), then New Caledonia
, Admiralty Islands
, the Dutch colony of Ambon (where Delahaye exchanged seeds with the Dutch governor) then to south-western Australia discovering and naming Esperance Bay (d'Entrecasteaux now commemorating his second ship). With water running low the ships then returned to the safety of Recherche Bay, thus completing a counterclockwise circumnavigation of the continent. The next destination was Tonga where Delahaye collected breadfruit
for transport to the Isle de France (Mauritius), then to New Caledonia (where Kermadec
, captain of the Espérance died), past Vanikoro Island (unaware that this is where La Pérouse had been shipwrecked) then through the Solomons, Trobriand Islands and finally, just before the death of d’Entrecasteaux in July 1793 from scurvy
, surveyed the coasts of eastern New Guinea
and northern New Britain
. The expedition was now under the new command of d’Auribeau the ships arriving at Sourabaya, Java, in 1793, to be told that France was now at war with European countries including Holland, Britain and Spain, also that Louis XVI had been guillotined and a French republic was now declared. The Dutch seized the ships. With one exception all the savants appeared to have revolutionary sympathies. They were interned at Semerang and the scientific collections confiscated to be eventually captured later by the British from a French ship returning them to France. Under the benign auspices of Joseph Banks
, these were returned to France. Delahaye was not, like Labillardiere, interned at Semerang but was permitted to tend the breadfruit trees destined for the Ile de France. In the course of the expedition, and under the guidance of Labillardière, Delahaye had made a numbered collection of 2,699 dried plant specimens as well as many collections of seed.
In 1792 over the 25 days of the first landfall in Recherche Bay, Tasmania, Delahaye established a European vegetable garden. Its purpose was as a source of food and propagation material for the indigenous people, and also as a supply of provisions for future visiting European vessels. This was the first European garden on mainland Tasmania, planted just north of where the ships were anchored and, until recently, was last sighted by Lady Jane Franklin in the 1840s. Offshore, on Bruny Island, a small orchard had been planted a few months previously by Englishman William Bligh
's expedition, presumably planted by Bligh's gardener David Nelson
. Delahaye's journal reports that he planted celery, chervil, chicory, cabbages, grey romaine lettuce, different kinds of turnip, white onion, radishes, sorrel, peas, black salsify and potatoes; he also had large quantities sewn in the woods, thrown at random where they might grow. Returning on 21 January 1793 the garden had not been productive, the seed having been planted in dry and sandy soil. This time Delahaye tried explaining to the Aboriginal people, referred to today as the Lyluequonny, that the tubers, when cooked in fire embers, made fine eating. Calling in on the Adventure Bay side of Bruny Island Delahaye examined and tended the two pomegranate, one quince and three fig trees planted by Bligh’s expedition in 1792.
Archaeological work had failed to find artefacts and recognizable phytoliths, also the site seemed too close to the sea — even though the dimensions, layout and orientation approximated published descriptions by both Delahaye and Labillardière.
The study also resulted in a Provisional Entry to the Tasmanian Heritage Register of 1 April 2010 D’Entrecasteaux Expedition Sites Recherche Bay & Adventure Bay:
(main island in the kingdom of Tonga) where Delahaye had specific instructions to collect quality breadfruit plants for transport to the Ile de France. The plants he selected were maintained in specially designed rectangular wooden chests with drainage holes and a frame that would hold glass or grills to assist temperature regulation. Accordingly, in Tonga he collected 200 breadfruit plants, emulating similar work of David Nelson, gardener-botanist to British Captain Bligh on the Bounty. By the time the French reached Sourabaya in Java only 14 plants survived and this was reduced to 10 when Delahaye moved to Semarang about another 300 kilometres away. By careful care and layering
(a means of propagation) he managed to double the number of plants before leaving Java in January 1797 for the Ile de France on the frigate Régénerée
. He then cared for the plants at sea eventually delivering them to Jean-Nicolas Céré
at the Jardin des Pamplemousses
on the Ile de France. Here they prospered under his care until he returned to France. Thanks to Delahaye’s careful husbandry the breadfruit was subsequently successfully introduced to the French West Indies. Between March and April 1797 on the Isle de France he had collected 280 separately numbered plant specimens and these were added to his specimens and seed collected in Java and seed collected in Australia. When he left the island in May 1797 among his collections were a selection of live ornamental plants that he had collected from gardens on the Ile de France.
When the collections from the expedition were finally returned to Paris they filled 36 trunks and among the living plants brought back were two breadfruit trees.
in 1798 and then, in 1805, on the Empress Joséphine’s estate at Malmaison
. An Englishman, Alexander Howatson, had been appointed Head Gardener at Malmaison. Napoleon did not like having an Englishman as an employee and being presented with an excessive bill by Howatson for transportation of shrubs to Malmaison, Napoleon had an opportunity to dispense with his services. The post of Superintendent of the Château de Malmaison gardens was given to the botanist Charles de Mirbel. It was through de Mirbel that Delahaye had obtained the position of Head Gardener at Malmaison, based on his successful restoration of the gardens at Le Trianon and also Marie Antoinette's old garden at Versailles. This garden was probably the most important collection of living Australian plants in Europe in this period. For several decades Delahaye was the only gardener in Europe who had actually seen the plants from New Holland growing in their natural habitat, and many of the plants he grew he had collected himself. Although tensions developed between Delahaye and Empress Josephine's chief botanist, Aimé Bonpland
, Delahaye continued to work for Empress Joséphine until her death in 1814 after which he entered business (possibly in 1826 when Malmaison was sold) as manager of a successful private nursery at Montreuil, near Versailles, which also occupied his wife and sons. Here he kept a collection of natural history specimens and an extensive herbarium together with seeds and ethnographic specimens brought back from his voyage.
Delahaye died at his home, 6 rue Symphorien, Versailles on 20 August 1829, aged 62, and was buried in the cemetery at Montreuil. He was survived by his wife, Anne Serreaux, two sons and a daughter. His daughter married Pierre Bertin who took over the business, handing it on to his son Émile Bertin who, in turn, passed it on to Jean-Jaques Moser.
On 16 August 1879 the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle
purchased his herbarium
, 84-folio catalogue and journal from the antiquarian bookseller Pironin for 295 francs. A small collection of seeds was also donated to the L'École Nationale Supérieure d'Horticulture
by Delahaye’s grandson Émile Bertin. A manuscript of his seed collections is held in the Museum library (‘Notes des graines récoltées dans le voyage autour du monde’).
.
Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was a French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of the lost expedition of La Pérouse....
voyage (1791–93) that was sent by the French National Assembly
National Assembly
National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale...
to search for the missing explorer Jean-François La Perouse
La Perouse
La Perouse may refer to* Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, a French naval officer and explorer,and the following places which were named after him:* La Perouse, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney...
.
Delahaye was one of many gardener-botanists employed on European colonial voyages of scientific exploration
European and American voyages of scientific exploration
The era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration followed the Age of Discovery and were inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arose in the Age of Enlightenment...
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Their duty was to assist with the collection, transport, cultivation and distribution of economic plants. They worked with the naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
s on these expeditions, but gave particular assistance to the botanists by collecting live plants and seed, as well as plant specimens for herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
collections. They often maintained journals and records of their collections and made observations on the vegetation encountered during the voyage. On this particular expedition, Delahaye assisted the naturalist and botanist Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière—who accumulated one of the largest herbarium collections of that era and published what was, in effect, the first Flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
of Australia based on the collections he made on the New Holland
New Holland (Australia)
New Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland, and remained in use for 180 years....
(Australian) leg of the expedition. Delahaye also made numerous botanical collections of his own.
On returning to France Delahaye eventually became Head Gardener to Empress Josephine at the Château de Malmaison
Château de Malmaison
The Château de Malmaison is a country house in the city of Rueil-Malmaison about 12 km from Paris.It was formerly the residence of Joséphine de Beauharnais, and with the Tuileries, was from 1800 to 1802 the headquarters of the French government.-History:Joséphine de Beauharnais bought the...
.
Early life
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1788, at the age of 20, he commenced work with André Thouin
André Thouin
André Thouin was a French botanist who was born in Paris. He studied botany under Bernard de Jussieu . In 1793 Thouin attained the chair of horticulture at Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Thouin was a good friend of U.S...
at the Jardin du Roi in Paris as a junior gardener, rising through the ranks to become Director of Horticulture at the city's new school of horticulture (Ecole Nationale d’Horticulture). His mentor, Thouin, was professor of horticulture in the Botany School of the Jardin du Roi. After the French Revolution this garden assumed its present name, the Jardin des Plantes
Jardin des Plantes
The Jardin des Plantes is the main botanical garden in France. It is one of seven departments of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. It is situated in the 5ème arrondissement, Paris, on the left bank of the river Seine and covers 28 hectares .- Garden plan :The grounds of the Jardin des...
. Thouin was also treasurer to the prestigious Société d’Histoire Naturelle and is commemorated by the name Thoin Bay in Tasmania.
Bruni d’Entrecasteaux expedition
The La Pérouse's expedition was last seen on 10 March 1788 as it left Botany Bay in New HollandNew Holland (Australia)
New Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland, and remained in use for 180 years....
, Australia. It had been observed by ships of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of convicts from England under the command of Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
who was just leaving for Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
after deciding that Botany Bay was unsuitable for settlement. In 1791 France’s National Assembly decided to send out a search mission led by Bruni d’Entrecasteaux. With Thouin’s recommendation Delahaye, who was at this time principal assistant gardener at the botany school of the Jardin du Roi, was invited to join the expedition's team of "savants" (more than ten scientists, engineers and artists) as the expedition's gardener. Thouin described Delahaye as “ ... strong, vigorous and well-suited for voyages. Gentle, honest and of an exact probity. Active, hard-working and passionately loving his calling. Knowing by theory and by practice the processes of gardening and knowing very well the plants cultivated in the Jardin du Roi.” Delahaye's annual salary on the expedition, paid by the navy, was 1000 livres (24 livres were equivalent to the gold coin, the Louis d'or
Louis d'or
The Louis d'or is any number of French coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640. The name derives from the depiction of the portrait of King Louis on one side of the coin; the French royal coat of arms is on the reverse...
), and he was reimbursed 1,236 livres for equipment. As a lowly gardener he was not permitted accommodation with the savants or to dine with the officers. Throughout the expedition he worked with diligence and honesty, keeping meticulous horticultural notes in his journal. Thouin wanted Delahaye to improve his schooling on the expedition and recommended that Delahaye study Latin, try to translate the works of Linnaeus and to read and write in French. His reading included Pierre Bulliard
Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard
Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard was a French physician and botanist....
’s Dictionairre Elementaire de Botanique (1783) and the works of Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau
Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau
Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau , was a French physician, naval engineer and botanist. As a botanist his standard abbreviation is Duhamel...
(1700–1782) who published works on forestry, naval architecture (especially relating to timber), agriculture, fruit tree cultivation, seed conservation and insect pests affecting seeds. Delahaye arrived in Brest, ready for the ship's departure, with four cases of garden seeds, one of fruit tree nuts, one containing gardening tools and another gardener’s clothing.
Landfalls
The expedition consisted of two frigateFrigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s, Recherche
French ship Recherche (1787)
The Recherche was a 20-gun Marsouin class scow of the French Navy, later reclassified as a 12-gun frigate. She earned fame as one of the ships of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux' expedition, along with Espérance...
and Espérance
Espérance
Espérance Sportive de Tunis is a sports club based in Tunis, Tunisia. It fields several sport teams in football, handball, volleyball, etc.It is the most popular and successful team in Tunisia and was founded on January 15, 1919...
. The first landfall was the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, then the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
followed by Van Diemen’s Land (in Recherche Bay
Recherche Bay
Recherche Bay is located on the extreme south-eastern corner of Tasmania, Australia and was a landing place of the d’Entrecasteaux expedition to find missing explorer La Pérouse...
, Tasmania, named by d'Entrecasteaux after the flagship of his expedition ), then New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
, the Dutch colony of Ambon (where Delahaye exchanged seeds with the Dutch governor) then to south-western Australia discovering and naming Esperance Bay (d'Entrecasteaux now commemorating his second ship). With water running low the ships then returned to the safety of Recherche Bay, thus completing a counterclockwise circumnavigation of the continent. The next destination was Tonga where Delahaye collected breadfruit
Breadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
for transport to the Isle de France (Mauritius), then to New Caledonia (where Kermadec
Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec
Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec was an 18th century French navigator. In September 1791 he was chosen to command the Espérance on the Bruni d'Entrecasteaux expedition to find the lost expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse. The expedition explored Australia and the South Pacific...
, captain of the Espérance died), past Vanikoro Island (unaware that this is where La Pérouse had been shipwrecked) then through the Solomons, Trobriand Islands and finally, just before the death of d’Entrecasteaux in July 1793 from scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
, surveyed the coasts of eastern New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and northern New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
. The expedition was now under the new command of d’Auribeau the ships arriving at Sourabaya, Java, in 1793, to be told that France was now at war with European countries including Holland, Britain and Spain, also that Louis XVI had been guillotined and a French republic was now declared. The Dutch seized the ships. With one exception all the savants appeared to have revolutionary sympathies. They were interned at Semerang and the scientific collections confiscated to be eventually captured later by the British from a French ship returning them to France. Under the benign auspices of Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
, these were returned to France. Delahaye was not, like Labillardiere, interned at Semerang but was permitted to tend the breadfruit trees destined for the Ile de France. In the course of the expedition, and under the guidance of Labillardière, Delahaye had made a numbered collection of 2,699 dried plant specimens as well as many collections of seed.
A European vegetable garden
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
's expedition, presumably planted by Bligh's gardener David Nelson
David Nelson (botanical collector)
David Nelson was gardener-botanist on the third voyage of James Cook, and botanist on the HMS Bounty under William Bligh at the time of the famous mutiny....
. Delahaye's journal reports that he planted celery, chervil, chicory, cabbages, grey romaine lettuce, different kinds of turnip, white onion, radishes, sorrel, peas, black salsify and potatoes; he also had large quantities sewn in the woods, thrown at random where they might grow. Returning on 21 January 1793 the garden had not been productive, the seed having been planted in dry and sandy soil. This time Delahaye tried explaining to the Aboriginal people, referred to today as the Lyluequonny, that the tubers, when cooked in fire embers, made fine eating. Calling in on the Adventure Bay side of Bruny Island Delahaye examined and tended the two pomegranate, one quince and three fig trees planted by Bligh’s expedition in 1792.
Rediscovery of garden in 2003
On 4 February 2003, situated in the north-eastern peninsula of Recherche Bay, environmental activists Helen Gee and Bob Graham found moss-covered stones forming a rectangle roughly 9m x 7.7m subdivided into four rectangles and enclosing a “plinth” (suggested as a support for barrels of water) measuring 1.8m x 1.7m. This seemed the possible remains of the garden established by Delahaye in 1792. The site ("NE peninsula") was placed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register on 20 February 2003. The discovery was an important element in a protracted campaign to preserve the site and, indeed, the whole peninsula, which was then in private ownership, and under threat of being logged.Heritage listing entry
In 2006 an archaeological survey of this site and others relating to the d'Entrecasteaux expedition concluded that:The geophysical and archaeological study of the area around the stone feature as well as the soil sampling strategy and the close observation of the 1792-93 maps of the area suggest that the stone layout cannot be the garden of Delahaye. This study also indicated that the location of the garden shown on the maps is in a dry and rocky environment which does not fit he description of the French ... The stone layout found in 2002 is probably an uncompleted structure associated with the late 19th and early 20th century develoment of the area. It is obviously one of the few remaining witnesses of this part of the history of Coal Pit Bight and needs to be protected and further researched.
Archaeological work had failed to find artefacts and recognizable phytoliths, also the site seemed too close to the sea — even though the dimensions, layout and orientation approximated published descriptions by both Delahaye and Labillardière.
The study also resulted in a Provisional Entry to the Tasmanian Heritage Register of 1 April 2010 D’Entrecasteaux Expedition Sites Recherche Bay & Adventure Bay:
1792 Garden (Lot 2). Exact location has not been identified. It is believed to be located in woodland near an intermittent stream, approximately 1 km north of Bennetts Point and 120 m inland (approx AGD66 E492782 N5180132), which is about 70-100 metres to the south-east of the stone structure discovered in 2002 (Galipaud et al 2007: 58 and 129). The site of the 1792 garden is thought to be an area of flat land near to a small stream, with deep and clayish soil (Galipaud 2007:58). Traces of the garden might today be covered by alluvial deposits (Galipaud et al 2007:58).
Transporting breadfruit to the French West Indies
After several weeks of productive botanising in Recherche Bay, in 1793 the expedition ships set sail for TongatapuTongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...
(main island in the kingdom of Tonga) where Delahaye had specific instructions to collect quality breadfruit plants for transport to the Ile de France. The plants he selected were maintained in specially designed rectangular wooden chests with drainage holes and a frame that would hold glass or grills to assist temperature regulation. Accordingly, in Tonga he collected 200 breadfruit plants, emulating similar work of David Nelson, gardener-botanist to British Captain Bligh on the Bounty. By the time the French reached Sourabaya in Java only 14 plants survived and this was reduced to 10 when Delahaye moved to Semarang about another 300 kilometres away. By careful care and layering
Layering
Layering is a means of plant propagation in which a portion of an aerial stem grows roots while still attached to the parent plant and then detaches as an independent plant. Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments...
(a means of propagation) he managed to double the number of plants before leaving Java in January 1797 for the Ile de France on the frigate Régénerée
French frigate Régénérée (1794)
Régénérée was a 40-gun Cocarde class frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her in 1801 at the fall of Alexandria but never commissioned her...
. He then cared for the plants at sea eventually delivering them to Jean-Nicolas Céré
Jean-Nicolas Céré
Jean-Nicolas Céré was a French botanist and agronomist born on the Indian Ocean Ile de France but educated in Brittany and Paris. On the Ile de France he was befriended by Pierre Poivre , administrator of the Ile de France and Ile Bourbon , who he assisted in the cultivation of spices...
at the Jardin des Pamplemousses
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden
The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden , commonly known as the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden, is a popular tourist attraction near Port Louis, Mauritius, and the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere...
on the Ile de France. Here they prospered under his care until he returned to France. Thanks to Delahaye’s careful husbandry the breadfruit was subsequently successfully introduced to the French West Indies. Between March and April 1797 on the Isle de France he had collected 280 separately numbered plant specimens and these were added to his specimens and seed collected in Java and seed collected in Australia. When he left the island in May 1797 among his collections were a selection of live ornamental plants that he had collected from gardens on the Ile de France.
When the collections from the expedition were finally returned to Paris they filled 36 trunks and among the living plants brought back were two breadfruit trees.
Subsequent work
Delahaye had departed Mauritius in May 1797, arriving in France and on 9 July to be appointed as an official on a commission sent to Italy to plunder the libraries and museums of northern Italy in the wake of Napoleon’s victories there. On his return he was appointed head gardener, first at TrianonPetit Trianon
The Petit Trianon is a small château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France.-Design and construction:...
in 1798 and then, in 1805, on the Empress Joséphine’s estate at Malmaison
Château de Malmaison
The Château de Malmaison is a country house in the city of Rueil-Malmaison about 12 km from Paris.It was formerly the residence of Joséphine de Beauharnais, and with the Tuileries, was from 1800 to 1802 the headquarters of the French government.-History:Joséphine de Beauharnais bought the...
. An Englishman, Alexander Howatson, had been appointed Head Gardener at Malmaison. Napoleon did not like having an Englishman as an employee and being presented with an excessive bill by Howatson for transportation of shrubs to Malmaison, Napoleon had an opportunity to dispense with his services. The post of Superintendent of the Château de Malmaison gardens was given to the botanist Charles de Mirbel. It was through de Mirbel that Delahaye had obtained the position of Head Gardener at Malmaison, based on his successful restoration of the gardens at Le Trianon and also Marie Antoinette's old garden at Versailles. This garden was probably the most important collection of living Australian plants in Europe in this period. For several decades Delahaye was the only gardener in Europe who had actually seen the plants from New Holland growing in their natural habitat, and many of the plants he grew he had collected himself. Although tensions developed between Delahaye and Empress Josephine's chief botanist, Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland was a French explorer and botanist.Bonpland's real name was Goujaud, and he was born in La Rochelle, a coastal city in France. After serving as a surgeon in the French army, and studying under J. N...
, Delahaye continued to work for Empress Joséphine until her death in 1814 after which he entered business (possibly in 1826 when Malmaison was sold) as manager of a successful private nursery at Montreuil, near Versailles, which also occupied his wife and sons. Here he kept a collection of natural history specimens and an extensive herbarium together with seeds and ethnographic specimens brought back from his voyage.
Delahaye died at his home, 6 rue Symphorien, Versailles on 20 August 1829, aged 62, and was buried in the cemetery at Montreuil. He was survived by his wife, Anne Serreaux, two sons and a daughter. His daughter married Pierre Bertin who took over the business, handing it on to his son Émile Bertin who, in turn, passed it on to Jean-Jaques Moser.
Plant collections
An extensive collection of living and dried plants was returned to Paris by Delahaye but these were scattered after his death, herbarium specimens now being housed in Paris, Geneva, Mauritius and Java. His original herbarium of 2,699 plants included specimens dated and numbered in his journal as follows: New Ireland (Bismarck Archipelago, Jul 17–24 1792, collection numbers 699-786); Ambon (Sept 6 – Oct 12, 1792, nos. 787-1113), Boeroe (Sept3–5, 1793, nos 1517-1669), Sourabaya, East Java (Oct 29 1793–Aug 1794, nos 1670-1962), Java (from 1794–96, nos 1963-2296), Batavia, west Java (Jun 1796–Jan 1797, nos 2297-2419) and the remainder from Ile de France.On 16 August 1879 the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
purchased his herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
, 84-folio catalogue and journal from the antiquarian bookseller Pironin for 295 francs. A small collection of seeds was also donated to the L'École Nationale Supérieure d'Horticulture
L'École Nationale Supérieure d'Horticulture
L'École Nationale Supérieure d'Horticulture was a French grande écoleThe Grandes Écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the main framework of the French university system...
by Delahaye’s grandson Émile Bertin. A manuscript of his seed collections is held in the Museum library (‘Notes des graines récoltées dans le voyage autour du monde’).
Honours
The name “Lahaie” is commemorated on the Liénard obelisk in the Jardin des Pamplemousses, Mauritius. D’Entrecasteaux named an island in Port Espérance (Tasmania) in Delahaye’s honour, but it is now known as Hope Island. He was also commemorated by D’Entrecasteaux in a cape in the D'Entrecasteaux IslandsD'Entrecasteaux Islands
D'Entrecasteaux Islands are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of 160 km, has a total land area of approximately 3,100 km² and is separated from the Papua New Guinea mainland by the...
.
See also
- List of gardener-botanist explorers of the Enlightenment
- European and American voyages of scientific explorationEuropean and American voyages of scientific explorationThe era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration followed the Age of Discovery and were inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arose in the Age of Enlightenment...